Forgive our disappointment when BC sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly came up empty when college football's postseason hardware was doled out over the past few weeks. Despite registering 171 tackles this season (102 solo, 69 assists), 10.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks and 2 interceptions, Kuechly finished as the runner up for the Butkus Award to Texas A&M's Von Miller as the nation's best linebacker (Miller had less tackles in his career than Kuechly had this season).
A finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the national college defensive player of the year, Kuechly watched as LSU's cornerback Patrick Peterson took home the hardware.
The Bronko Nagurski Award, given to the best defensive player by the Football Writers Association of America, was awarded to fellow conference member Da'Quan Bowers.
Kuechly wasn't even deemed the best defensive player in the conference this year. That honor, like the Nagurski Award, also went to Bowers.
Even though Kuechly was shut out of this year's college football hardware, this honor is a pretty decent consolation prize:
"Boston College sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly was named to the Associated Press All-America first team Tuesday afternoon. In receiving the AP honor, Kuechly became the 10th Consensus First-Team All-American (FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp and AP) in Boston College football history and the first since Jamie Silva in 2007."
Kuechly joins such BC greats as Gene Goodreault, Mike Holovak, Flutie, Tony Thurman, Mike Ruth, Pete Mitchell and Mike Cloud as a Consensus First-Team All American. Congrats to Kuechly on making the AP's All-American first team as a consensus first-team pick.